To weight your self…or not to weight yourself…that is the question!…

Some people like to know their starting off right.  This is a good idea.  Although it may be disheartening to find out how much weight you have gained, it is on a temporary number! With hard work and dedication that number will steadily decrease over time.  You can purchase your own scale (which may be good to help you keep track of you weight loss over time) or you can use a scale at a gym, doctors office, or any other place that will allow you to do so.

How much weight you should expect to lose over time… 

On average, with the right exercise routine and a good balanced diet, you should be losing about 2 pounds a week.  If you are losing more than 7 pounds a week then you might want to evaluate what you are doing (because its normal to lose between 2-5 pounds a week).  Accurately losing weight is done by balancing how many calories you burn with how many calories you are consuming.  Naturally, if you are burning off more calories that you consume this will lead to weight loss.  These results will not be seen overnight! It takes time and patience and a regular routine of exercise and a good balanced diet.

what is a realistic length of time to set a goal?…

Lets say that your goal is to lose 20 pounds.  To be honest, the length of time it will take you to lose 20 pounds may be different from someone else.   It all depends on how often you exercise and if you decrease your calorie intake to help you burn fat.  Like stated above you should be losing about 2 pounds for week (but some weeks it will be more than that and other weeks it will be less than that. It is completely normal for that to happen!).  So if you calculate 2 pounds per week this will take approximately 20 weeks (or about 5 months).  Like I said before The length of time it will take someone to lose weight will be different from someone else!  If  are losing about 4 pounds a week it will take you about 5 weeks to lose 20 pounds.  It just all depends on how hard you work and how many pounds you lose from week to week. Do not let the length of time discourage you! These things take time, patients, and dedication.  And in the end the hard work will show.

What happens if I do not lose weight one week?…

It is OK if there is a week that you do not lose any weight or you lose one pound.  Try not to worry or stress out too much if this happens! Just try to push yourself a little harder the next week to help you get back on track to reaching your goal!

What to eat during this time… 

Setting a menu is just as important as setting a work out schedule.  What I have personally found to be helpful is that each time I go to the grocery store, I plan my menu’s (at least for the next week to two weeks).  It helps because I can budget the things that I need to get, and I can also cook some items I need during the weekend so that it can be stored to be used later in the week.  Each month I set a monthly budget for how much I can spend at the grocery store and how much money I can spend going out to eat.  A few years ago I stopped eating fast food all together, so my “out to eat” budget is for the weekly dinners I plan at restaurants with my friends (and I always save half of that meal to be eaten the next day for lunch or dinner! so I get two meals out of going out to eat)  It also allows me to look at the local stores newspaper adds so I can try to get the best price for the fruits and veggies I buy and eat on a regular basis.

What happens if I do not reach my goal in the time that I set for myself?…

If you do not reach your goal in the time you set it is OK!! Just extend your goal time.  Allow yourself a few more weeks to work hard and reach the initial goal you have set for yourself.  What I have suggested to some clients is to possible keep a fitness/health journal.  This can help you keep track of your workouts, if you happen to splurge during one meal (which is OK but try not to make it a habit), or any other things that go on during the time you are trying to reach your goal.  It will not only allow you to keep track of these things, but it can also serve as an outlet of positive and negative things that happen.  You can write it down, or blog about it (there are several sites that will allow you to keep your blog private or let you choose who can/cant see it).  This can also help by letting people see thins and encourage you to keep pushing towards your goals. I also love this idea because if I am out and I hear of something I want to try or randomly find a recipe I would like to try, I have my journal near by to jot it down!

I hope that these tools will help you create your goals and start your own fitness and health journeys.

Do you know exactly what you are putting into your body?  Do you even know how much food you are consuming each day?  It is said that most people consume as little as TWICE as many calories than they actually need each day.

One of the most important things you need to do to help you reach your goals is to figure out what you are eating and how much you are eating!! There are DOZENS of applications you can download onto your smart devices and they are also accessible on your computer.

You can find an easily accessible and FREE calorie counter site at: http://www.nutracheck.co.uk/

Once you get singed up with these programs feel free to play around with it!! You need to get use to how the program works so you will become efficient as being able to navigate and use the program properly.

Using these types of programs will allow you the change to closely monitor HOW much food you are eating and what kind of foods you are eating.

I suggest a few things:

- when you decide you want to make a healthier change, sign up for one of these programs and track what types of food you eat for a FULL week

- when the week is over go back and look at what you eat a lot of and what you need to eat more of.  You will be surprised to see that you consume too much salt, sugar, or another type of food.  You will also be able to see that you do not eat enough veggies, fruits, or protein.  This will allow you the change to actually see what areas you need to improve on.  

- next find some healthy recipes and go shopping! You have to find recipes that will be fitting to your needs!  Usually breakfast will be around 300-400 calories  snacks will be around 200-300 calories, and lunch and dinner should also be around 300-400 calories!  The goal is to spread your meals out throughout the day so you do not feel like you are going hungry!  YOU DO NOT WANT TO SKIP MEALS!! THIS CAN HINDER YOUR WEIGHT LOSS!  You want to try to stick to a regular eating schedule.  I would suggest eating about every 2-3 hours.  have breakfast, and then a small snack, lunch, another snack, dinner, and if you are still hungry in the evening have another SMALL snack.  You want to try to stop eating about 2-3 hours BEFORE you go to bed.  But you do not want to go hungry and you should try NOT to skip any meals

-keep track of what you eat in these applications.  They will let you decide if you have the right serving size or more than the suggested serving size.  If you stick to the proper serving sizes, a steady workout routine, and drink water you should start to see results in about a month!

Reaching your goals will take TIME! You will have to be patient! You can not eat healthy for a week and expect 15-30 pounds to just vanish!  Yes that would be nice but it is not realistic.  You have to stay consistent with eating right AND working out.  Eating right is the MAIN priority.  If you are not feeding your body the right foods it will hinder the results you want to see!! You can spend all the time you want in the gym, but if you eat junk food all of that hard work will go to waste.  So this is why it is SO important to get your diet under control so you are able to reach the results you want.

And there you have it! I just gave you the tools you need to help you jump-start your new health and fitness journey!

Any day is a great day to start living healthier…why not start today!?

The difference between factory farmed meats and non factory farmed meats

The difference between factory farmed meats and non factory farmed meats might seem trivial,
but that couldn’t be further from the truth. When it comes to health benefits, factory farmed meats
and non factory farmed meats are chalk and cheese. Because the conditions that factory farmed
animals live in are so poor, they become diseased, and are therefore pumped full of antibiotics
and medication, as well as very strong growth hormones in order to make the animals ready for
slaughter faster and get a better profit for the farmer. This means that some of the bugs the animals
contract become resistant even to the strongest antibiotics. Free range and non factory farmed
animals are not subjected to any of these conditions, but rather are left to graze freely, and not only
live better lives but are healthier animals themselves, and don’t carries terrible germs and infections
obtained from bad living conditions.

Image Source: http://www.realsimple.com/home-organizing/green-living/green-home-00000000056038/page3.html

Moreover, free range meat have a much lower ration of Omega 3 fats to Omega 6 fats, meaning that
it not only doesn’t cause heart attack risk to increase (like factory farmed meat does), it actually can
reduce your risk of heart attack. When all the benefits of free range meat are taken into account, the
small price difference seems minuscule compared to the quality difference.

Free range and organic meat is becoming more and more and more popular as the health risks
become known. Some free range butchers like Cannings take care to choose free range and grass
fed meats from selected Australian farms. Good butchers will adhere to meat standards Australia.

 

Notice that free range meats may be MORE expensive than farm raised meats.  If you do choose to get farm raised meats try to figure out where it comes from and investigate how they treat and process their animals.  It is always good to know where and how your food is processed.

Adults LEAD by example.

Kids mimic our behaviors MORE than we could even image.  So take into consideration how your healthy habits will influence the young eyes that are watching you!

Parents make most of the health decisions at meal time.

Yes it may be hard to keep driving  past Taco Bell or McDonald’s when you are leaving work or school BUT try to plan out healthy meals that you can create at home.  This will also allow you to incorporate “Family Time” into your day

Allow your kids (and other family members) the chance to help cook or prepare the meals.

Insist on sitting down and having dinner each night as a family!

If YOU start to make healthy decisions today, these decisions may be reflected in your children allowing them to start living healthier lives.

To achieve your health and fitness goals

Working out is 1/3 of the equation to reaching your goals

Your Diet/food & Liquid consumption is 2/3 of the equation!

You can not eat fried, fat filled, unhealthy food and expect to lose weight!

You HAVE to fuel your body with the right nutrients in order for it to start burning those extra calories!

Eating right has to be consistent!

If not…do not expect to see results!

Eating the right things is SO SO SO important!

Without eating right, it can take you even LONGER to achieve your goals.

So THINK before you EAT!

Being realistic it is hard to give it up 100%.  With a family, busy lifestyle, and not enough time….fast food is a great option for most people and families when meal time comes around.

Take a pledge to limit your fast food intake.  Try to plan and schedule your menu/meals.  This is not only a healthier option, but over time it can help you save money! If you take the $5-$20 you would spend PER MEAL at a fast food place, you can apply that to your grocery bill and get healthy meal options and snacks.

Today Mr. Tony Shin was kind enough to submit a graphic to be shared with you guys!

Created by: MedicalCodingCareerGuide.com

There are SO many healthy food options…